A Very Jilly New Years
by Future Writer Girl
Summary: The second in my Jilly holiday series, this takes place new years on James and Lily's last year at school, can our favorite dark-haired head boy possibly get to a new level with our red-haired beauty? Read and find out...


The date was December 31st, 1997- Everyone at Hogwarts knew what that meant, the 4th annual Super awesome Marauder new year's spectacular! The whole castle buzzed with excitement, most of the 6th and 7th year students had come back from Christmas hols just for the purpose of coming to the party. It was said to be the best party of the decade.

Boys were fixing their hair and putting on cologne and fancy collared shirts, Girls wore sparkly dresses that were short and ready to be partied in. The rumours spread like crazy that the marauders managed to get booze into the party- they never had been able to before!- The school was however unwavering in their support towards the marauders.

It seemed that the only person that was unhappy in the castle was James Potter, he sat by his favourite window on the sixth floor corridor, it overlooked both the Quidditch pitch, and down all the way to the Birch tree; where his eyes were fixated.

Anyone else would have seen a student, probably catching up on some light reading or even doing it recreationally. Not James however, he saw Lily Evans. He knew what book she was reading too, she hadn't put the book down all day and he was starting to worry for her sanity because of all the random bursts of squealing and or uncharacteristic giggling.

He hit his head purposely hard on the brick behind him, staring up at the ceiling sadly. His devotion for the red-haired vixen had always been unwavering, James had never even considered being with anyone else but her. However, a heart could only take so much heartbreak before you had to throw away the toxic chemical that made it break in the first place.

"_I'm so glad we're friends now James, you're just so wonderful and I'm thankful you're in my life!"_ She'd said happily, after randomly bursting in the room and hugging him tightly. She'd then kissed him on the cheek and had gone back to her reading chair in the heads dorms.

_Friends. _

James hated the word.

He had been **friend-zoned**! Years of making his affections clear as crystal, and then you go three months without announcing your unwavering love towards her and you get **FRIEND-ZONED**! Now he knew why Snape had been so cranky all the time, this stung more than a thousand "No's" Any day.

He shook his head, tonight was the second, maybe third last huge party that the Marauders would throw at Hogwarts. He couldn't be focused on how he had been given a place on the _'Just friends'_ express, or that there was a possibility that Lily could go shag that bloke from Ravenclaw she had been talking with recently, or even that he had missed his opportunity with her. Nope, he was going to enjoy himself at this party whether he liked it or not.

Dressing in only his nicest collared shirt- the bluish one with golden tones- and his dress pants, James styled his hair to a messy perfection, adding only light touch of cologne since he knew lily hated it. He looked at himself in the mirror; James thought he looked pretty damn sexy.

He helped the Marauders get set up in the room of requirements, the turnout was going to be far too big for the Gryffindor common room, and they wanted all the houses to come and have legendary fun. They had set a confusion spell so that when the party goer left, they wouldn't be able to find the place again unless they knew where it was beforehand. Pretty genius spell, it had been Sirius' idea.

By the time eleven o'clock whirled around, the party was in full swing. The music was loud, the bass even made vibrations in the spiked punch from time to time. Students danced together happily, some couples, others just groups of friends laughing- and sometimes falling- all over the assigned 'dance' area.

The party was a complete success, the four boys had already been praised by many how it was the greatest party in the history of Hogwarts, and how they should go in the history books for this one. James however, was lost in thought.

His jaw had literally smashed the floor when he had seen Lily; for once her hair was down in delicate ringlets and co-existed beautifully with the short one-shoulder sparkly, midnight blue dress. Her eyes just seemed to pop out amongst the lack of bright colors; they had shone when people had whistled at her, or thrown her a cat call. For once, James didn't stop them to beat the low-life scum not to disrespect her like that, but she had seemed far too happy.

"James?" His head snapped over to the very same red-headed vixen "What are you doing all the way back here?" Lily gestured around her to the few arm chairs that had been placed around the back of the room, probably designated for snogging.

"Just taking a quick party break" He said, taking a long swig from his butterbeer, usually it would be Firewhiskey but he couldn't force himself to drink tonight.

"James Potter, needing a break from a party?" Lily said, smiling and sitting down next to him in the cramped couch "Someone owl the prophet" James smiled lightly, gulping back another swig. Lily took the bottle from his hands and took a swig herself, shuddering as the first initial wave hit her.

"Very funny, thank you" James said, even smiling a little. Though his left side was up a couple millimetres above the right, something Sirius had dubbed 'the James smirk'. "You can go back to the Ravenclaw now" James gestured towards the blonde haired boy that was searching for Lily.

She groaned silently, leaning into his shoulder. "Don't make me go back, he's a bore!" Lily whined, her eyes glancing up at the now happy James.

"Maybe you should stick to dating exciting blokes" He'd said before he could stop himself, cursing silently. That could have been taken a thousand different ways; it didn't have to mean "Date me! I'm desperate!"

Lily laughed, nodding. "Yeah, those ones always manage to get by me; don't they" She joked, both chuckling lightly.

"Maybe you just need to re-examine your options" James said lightly, cursing the day he was born. The words 'Just friends' sang in his head softly, making him feel crazier than he should have felt.

Lily looked away "What if my options don't have the same... romantic view as myself" James smirked a little, she always made love seem so technical and scheduled, like everything else in her life.

James turned to Lily, his large hand grasping her frail little one. "Lily, you are one of the most amazing people I've ever meet! If a guy doesn't like you then he's crazy" He hated the fact that he was giving dating advice to the only girl he's ever loved, but maybe this bloke didn't feel the same way towards lily.

"Think so?" She'd asked so quietly, looking down in her lap. James had tilted her face towards his before his brain could even process it and scream at him, or hit himself over the head with a vase.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, Lily" James said, both staring into the others eyes. James was sure she'd pull away any second, but the eye contact was too strong. Both could hear the music quiet down and hear the countdown start.

"Ten, nine eight..." Sirius had started, looking very drunk and very happy.

"it's unlucky to start the New year without a kiss you know" Lily blurted out, blushing almost immediately. His heart raced, he didn't want to get his hopes up, and it was foolish!

"Seven, Six, Five..." The crowd joined in, all of them happy and exuberant, and no one observing the scene behind them going on between their two heads.

"I suppose I could... assist you with that?" James said, but it came out as more of a question. He reached up and tentatively touched his palm to her face, stroking her delicate cheekbones.

"Four, three, two..." The crowd screamed even louder, everyone almost jumping with each number. The two heads however, paid little attention. Both leaned in at the same time, their lips connecting as the room burst into screams of 'ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!'

Their lips danced across the others, Lily's lips were like a lapping tide at the shore, it could be gentle when they wanted to be but could also be quite forceful. While James' kisses were more like a flickering candle, calm enough on its own, but could easily become an inferno if he weren't careful.

They pulled apart what seemed like hours later, but the clock on the wall said only a minute had passed. James was on cloud nine, he had kissed Lily Evans. James Potter had kissed Lily Evans, and she had kissed him back!

Lily giggled softly, kissing his chin. "Happy new year" She whispered, he could hear the smile on her face without even having to look.

"Go out with me?" He'd wanted it to be more extravagant, he'd wanted it to be somewhere more secluded and romantic, something to tell all four of their children! But it didn't stop James from asking the question.

"Yes" Lily whispered, finally pressing her lips back to his. No one paid any attention to the couple snogging in the back, because Sirius was too busy turning the music back up and pressing kisses to Marlene's neck. Remus was pre-occupied with a sixth year Hufflepuff girl who he simply couldn't take his eyes off of. Even bloody Peter was busy, dancing with the quiet Ravenclaw girl that was in all of his classes.

But for James the moment was perfect, he wouldn't have changed a thing.

**Written in honnor of Mister Harry James Potters birthday- Though I am a bit late- I thought I'd write about the two wonderful people that brought him into the world... Aaaand a bit of drunken Sirius.**

**I wrote this in two hours, feel free to criticize. Review!**


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